Hurricanes. A fact of life for Floridians. The way we behave toward them depends on which part of the state you are talking about.

​I live on the east coast. In Palm Beach county. And we have been blessed geographically with the Bahamas off our coast. They typically act as a barrier, protecting our county from the direct path of a monster storm*.

In fact, it has been nearly 11 years since the last direct hit to my town. I will forever remember that late October day... My husband proposed the night before he was deployed for hurricane relief. Good times.

As a lifetime Floridian, I don't get overly excited about hurricanes, Jim Cantore or the Cone of Uncertainty.

Basically, the life of a storm is like this:

- Facebook feed pops up, several friends begin posting about some disturbance in the Caribbean. I keep scrolling.

- I catch a news story (or Facebook notification), we are in the 5-day cone. Ok, I make a mental note to check this information again. And I very informally check off my mental list of supplies.

- Storm has moved away. No problem.

This storm is obviously different. For me, it was from the beginning. It's track felt different to me. Unlike all the others we have seen. It's position in the Caribbean, it's movement. It all felt different.

I have watched it for what has felt like an eternity. Last Saturday morning (WAY before I have ever done so in the past) I went to Publix and bought water, batteries, paper towels, toilet paper and two gallons of milk (we needed one, but I got an extra in case). I thought Murphy's Hurricane Preparation Law would save us - it says if you are prepared ahead of time, the storm will bypass you.

I was wrong.

So, like LOTS of other people, this morning I went shopping. Again. I bought more milk - for some reason that is very difficult to get after the storm. I bought lunch meat. Bread. Apples. Bananas. Medicine for the kids. Coke. It's not so much Matthew itself that I am stressed and prepping for - it's the days without power, the days after the storm.

We are pulling the shutters out. They will all be securely in place tomorrow. Shane wants me to take the kids and leave town... I don't want to. I'll let you know how we are once Matthew has passed. Wish me luck - 2 kids and 1 husband through a mega storm - I am going to need it!